Ghost Dematerializer
The Ghost Dematerializer was the primary anti-ghost weapon used in The Ghost Busters and Ghostbusters. When it was fired at a ghost, they were returned to the Great Beyond. The Ghost Busters The Ghost Dematerializer was always in kept in the Ghost Kit and Tracy would always get it out, and Jake Kong would get the weapon and then fire it at the ghost and sidekick and send them away. Ghostbusters The Ghost Dematerializer in the animated series was still the main weapon and would send ghosts away. It was kept in Ghostbuster Backpacks. Most of the time the weapon was effective, However against extremely powerful ghosts such as Prime Evil it would only weaken them or was completely ineffective. It also seems to have been updated significantly; in an episode where the original Ghostbusters were required to step in, they were unable to figure out how to activate the Dematerializer used by their sons. The newer Dematerializer was most often wielded by Jake Jr, though on occasion Eddie has used it as well. (It is all but stated as a fact that each Ghostbuster carries a Dematerializer as well as their "signature" weapon; the Dematerializer, however, is Jake's signature weapon, and he shows the greatest proficiency with it.) The Dematerializer's function Exactly what the Dematerializer does to ghosts has long been a matter of conjecture on The True Ghostbusters Fan Forum. At first, contributor: spookbuster (aka Frapsap on this wiki) stated that it was a portable time machine (this was based on a line in the '75 series episode No.2 "Dr. Whatshisname" September 13, 1975), while other theories stated that it opened a doorway into the Spirit World for a split-second, sucking ghosts back into the Void. However, Go-er Nix has perhaps settled the matter once and for all: the Dematerializer does exactly what it says it does. In other words, its beam disintegrates a ghost's "physical" or material body to the point where it must retreat to the Spirit World before further disintegration takes place. The point of contention seems to have been the device's function of "sending ghosts back" in the Animated Series vs. "complete disintegration" in the Live Action Series. This can easily be explained by Prime Evil's use of the Bone Troller to build the Scareway. In the live-action series, ghosts did escape to the Spirit World, but they could not come back until a "doorway" opened up--this usually did not happen for a very long time. However, in the Animated Series, the Scareway serves as a more permanent doorway between dimensions. Also, "Mummy Dearest" lists a Power Amplifier as one of the Dematerializer's components. With the Amplifier damaged, the Dematerializer can only emit a small sputter of energy. It is stated outright that this is what the Dematerializer would normally do before fitting it with the Amplifier. (Nix has theorized that the Live-Action model required manual adjustment of the Amplifier, and that the Animated Series version had a computerized adjuster.) As it was shown in the episode "Father Knows Beast", The Ghost Dematerializer does not affect matter that has no ghostly props, like the armor in which the Slort troll was hiding. The Micro-Dematerializer The Micro-Dematerializer was a version of the Dematerializer that could be held in one hand, similar in design to the original Star Trek phaser. It was used in only 3 episodes of the Animated Series: That's No Alien, The Phantom Of The Big Apple, and The Fourth Ghostbuster. As it was not used very often, this leads most Go-ers to conclude that its battery capacity was far more limited than the regular Dematerializer. Gallery GhostDematerializer001.png| Category:Equipment Category:Tracy's Inventions